What do you do with an urban high school that defies the odds and shatters barriers, both real and perceived, for ethnic minority and low-income students?
Replicate it. Again and again.
The popular Denver School of Science and Technology has the type of demographic mix that bedevils nearly every urban school in America: two-thirds of the students are ethnic minorities and about 45 percent are from poor families. Those two indicators typically suggest students will fare poorly.
Yet 100 percent of the seniors in the school’s first two graduating classes were accepted into four-year colleges and universities, proving those barriers can be overcome.
Better still, the students’ remediation rate once in college is basically zero.
We were delighted Monday to learn that the enormously successful charter school hopes to expand and work its magic in four more secondary schools, grades 6 through 12, over the next five years.
The schools will focus on science, technology, engineering and math, and on filling the jobs of tomorrow.
Since charter schools are semi-autonomous public schools, the Denver Public Schools board must agree to the expansion plans. It’s certainly in the district’s best interest — and in the interest of Denver kids — for them to say yes.
The expansion, which will allow DSST to eventually serve 4,000 students, will double the number of four-year college-ready DPS graduates by 2020, according to DSST.
Because it’s a charter school, the dedicated staff and teachers at DSST can (and do) work long hours. The school also has a strict code of conduct and lots of homework.
Most important, it has a clear mission: Students will succeed. And it has a network in place to lift up those students who fall behind.
We wish the school well as it enters its next phase. The plans are ambitious, and require a full buy-in from the DPS board but, ultimately, if DSST succeeds, Denver succeeds.
